Scalo sets up headquarters in Dubai to reach promising start-ups

Tech venture company says decision based on emirate’s high level of business activity, growing economy and strong government initiatives to attract entrepreneurs

Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, right, and Rashit Makhat, co-founders of Scalo Technologies. Photo: Scalo

Tech venture company Scalo Technologies has established its headquarters in Dubai as it aims to invest $100 million in start-ups over the next three to five years.

Originally founded in Singapore in 2020, Scalo said it chose to base its operations in Business Bay, Dubai, due to the emirate’s high level of business activity, growing economy and strong government initiatives to attract entrepreneurs and professionals from around the globe.

The move will help the company to “identify and guide start-ups with the potential to enter global markets”, and it sees Dubai as the “perfect international hub to drive its plans in the tech and gaming sectors”, Scalo said in a statement on Monday.

“Dubai is at the heart of the Mena region, which is actively growing, and provides us with many outstanding investment opportunities,” said Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, director and co-founder of Scalo Technologies.

“We want to capitalise on the chance to connect with global start-ups, and also to meet UAE-based and Mena-based founders.”

Start-ups are growing globally as entrepreneurs work to develop solutions for a world that is becoming increasingly digital in key sectors such as retail, services and commerce.

A record 540 companies achieved a unicorn status ― worth more than $1 billion in 2021 ― up from 150 in 2020, according to a latest report by advisory company Startup Genome.

Dubai, which is seeking to cement its position as a global capital of the digital economy, recently launched the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) plan.

The strategy aims to catapult the emirate into the world’s top cities by economic strength in the next 10 years and involves a programme to help 30 private companies to achieve unicorn status.

Scalo, which has moved its management and operations team to Dubai, said it is particularly interested in cloud-based artificial intelligence solutions and gaming companies. It intends to invest in a wide variety of businesses including game developing, publishing, FinTech apps and AI companies over the coming months.

Nearly 50 per cent of the $100 million investment earmarked for start-ups over the next three to five years will go to Mena-based tech and AI companies, the company said.

“Our key idea is to help founders of start-ups with the potential to scale up their business to enter global markets, no matter the language or location of their potential customers,” said Rashit Makhat, co-founder of Scalo.

“[We] are constantly searching for breakthrough ideas that can grow worldwide. At the same time, we are always exploring new opportunities in other fast-growing sectors. Markets displaying multiple growth potential over the next five to 10 years are of particular interest to us.”

Scalo has so far invested in companies including Megarender.com, the online cloud render farm, and Voctiv, a technology company that helps businesses worldwide to build fully autonomous, AI-powered contact centres.